22 – Ascal Plateau (5)
What kind of absurd situation is this?
“Lieutenant, I was just trying to help…”
“There was no need for your help! I could have done it alone!”
That’s a lie.
My condition is not good. Blood flows through the broken armor.
Initially, the armor may have been efficient, but in battle against Titans, combat power is diminished.
Even if it’s the pinnacle of personal armament, defeating a Titan single-handedly is close to impossible. Especially with skilled Titans like before.
A cow can’t defeat a dinosaur by wearing thick armor.
He would have died if I hadn’t helped him. That’s a clear fact.
“…”
Still, I saved him because we had shared experiences, and he comes back acting like this.
“Do I appear pathetic?! Answer me!”
“…”
Swearing filled my throat. However, I didn’t spit it out.
Whether or not this necklace works depends on the person in front of me. If I rushed in recklessly, my head would be blown off.
“Answer me!”
“…….!”
“Answer me…!”
“What is all this commotion?”
Elliott Moot stiffened. He turned his head.
The commander of the punishment unit, Vesmopf Litin, was staring at him.
“Asked what’s going on, Elliott Moot.”
“Commander.. This guy acted on his own..!”
“Control your emotions. At least you both survived, didn’t you? Let him go.”
“…….!”
Elliott Moot’s strength left his hands. I stood straight on the ground.
“It’s the first time for a reward to be given first. Drakan.”
“Nice to meet you, commander.”
“Was that Abacusa by your side?”
“Yes.”
“Good. The army has a lot of talented individuals. Very excellent.”
He patted my shoulder. Elliott Moot’s gaze sharpened.
“We’ll talk separately later. Right now, I’m in a hurry. Platoon leader, follow me. There’s a lot of cleanup work left to do.”
“But…!”
“It’s not enough to vent your anger? Don’t act like a child.”
“…….!”
Vesmopf Litin turned away.
“Um, the commander of the 13th platoon… needs help with treating the wounds…!”
“Leave him alone!”
He shrugged off the medic’s hand and limped away after the commander. Abacusa snickered from the side.
“He’s not a kid, but still making a fuss. What a funny guy.”
“Helping out and still getting scolded.”
“You idiot. Understand this. There’s no sane officer in the resistance army. They’re all a bunch of weirdos.”
“Tch.”
I turned the pistol in my pocket to the safe position.
I turned my head. The resistance fighters around were busy moving the bodies.
As we passed by, the resistance army looked straight at us.
“Hey! Move! We have to make sure there are no surviving brats.”
“Hey, you son of a b*tch! Who do you think you’re calling ‘hey’?”
“Just passing some words! I’m going first!”
Abakusa snorted.
“You son of a b*tch. If you don’t move, you’ll get hit even more there.”
“Forget it.”
I moved too. It’s killing the humans hiding among the corpses.
“…Please, spare me.”
I met the eyes of the woman pretending to be dead. I bit my tongue.
I had grown accustomed to killing people, but what should I do in a situation like this?
Abakusa and I exchanged glances. The human who had been hiding silently looked away.
“Hey, you son of a b*tch. I don’t know. I don’t know how to deal with someone who doesn’t have a gun, but put it down. “
“……”
“Since you found him, you deal with him. I don’t know. Just… remember that there’s someone who got caught alive, and that someone got shot.”
He really didn’t know anything.
All he talked about was irrelevant.
Suddenly, I felt like I had come to a crossroads. One step forward.
It was about how to survive in this world.
“…Please, please…”
“……”
I furrowed my eyebrows.
…As expected
“If you don’t like it, do it yourself. Damned brat.”
“…Tch.”
Abakusa discreetly kicked the ground. He covered the fallen dirt over the woman.
“Your finishing move is clumsy. You piece of sh*t.”
“……”
He turned his head.
Abakusa.
Still, he wasn’t as low as human garbage.
. . .
The war was over. The woman who had been under the corpses seemed to have escaped as well; she was nowhere to be seen when the night ended.
Unfortunately, all the firearms of the humans were taken away. The issued weapons were no exception.
Instead, what we were given were picks and shovels.
We continued to prepare our formation. We didn’t know when the retreating enemies would return.
We had to make everything on the Ascalk Plateau ours.
“It seems like moving corpses, huh?”
“Abakusa, haven’t you seen the other members of the squad?”
“I don’t know. Go check the sickbay.”
“What about you?”
“I’m not going. Damned brat.”
Abakusa passed me by.
“…Saying that someone is in the sickbay usually means they’re dying. I hate the eyes of those who are dying. So if you’re going, go alone. Damned brat.”
I visited the sickbay.
Most of the 13th Squad members were dead. However, surprisingly, including bald Edan, Garsh was still alive.
“Even my remaining molars are broken. Drakan.”
Garsh, with one eye wrapped in bandages, slumped his shoulders.
“Now, I might as well be dead.”
Temporary sickbay.
A medic who was wandering around gave him a jab.
“The bullet trajectory went off because of the broken tooth. Be thankful that it didn’t take out your brain instead of just an eye.”
“I should’ve just died…!”
“Death is nothing.”
Ethan, bald-headed, was shivering.
“D-Dracon. I almost… almost committed suicide. I got shot in the thigh… with just a one-millimeter difference…!”
“…….?”
“I almost became a ghost! Damn it! God, thank you… from now on, will you protect me as your sacred instrument… Can I call myself the sacred instrument?”
It should have been a bullet to the head, not the thigh.
The fact that both of them were alive was good news anyway. I walked down the steep path after that. It was inevitable that I deviated a little from the operational area.
Vengeance.
His corpse lay in the dusty soil.
“……”
This was the first time I witnessed a friend’s death with my own eyes.
He was a quiet person. Apart from knowing that he had a younger sister, I didn’t know anything else about him.
I dug the ground. Normally, I would gather the corpses together and bury them, but I wanted to give him a separate tomb.
“Vengeance.”
After lightly praying over the corpse buried deep in the Ascalon Plateau, I turned around.
I picked a flower I noticed on the way and placed it on top of his grave.
“May you find peace there.”
I turned around and left.
Abacusa growled at me as I returned.
“You bastard! You think you can just curl up alone because you’re too lazy to work!”
“I worked.”
“What kind of work! I can tell just by looking at you, you’ve been outside…!”
“I buried Vengeance.”
“…A pointless act.”
Abacusa threw a loaf of bread at me. I effortlessly caught it and tore into it.
“You bastard. Did you hear? Out of the 1,000 soldiers in the punitive force, 800 of them died.”
“…Most of them died.”
“Many other companies had heavy casualties, but our company was particularly severe. You can assume that all the faces you saw while moving have died.”
“Gash and Ethan survived.”
“…Tsk. Tough bastards.”
I tore and ate the bread.
The ground shook. Titans were wandering around, clearing away the debris.
Despite the chaos, most bunkers were intact. Only a few had been dented by direct attacks from the Titans, but the overall shape had been maintained.
Abacusa licked his lips.
“Human bastards. They have excellent technology. Have you seen them simultaneously shooting down multiple Titans to catch just one? We may have the numbers, but their skills are definitely superior.”
“…”
“Hey, asshole. What are you thinking?”
“Nothing in particular.”
I just got lost in thought for a moment.
If I had been riding the Flame Tail… I wonder how I would have acted in that situation.
“Are you a Draken?”
I turned my head. A face I had never seen before called out to me.
Judging by the insignia, it seemed to be Elliot Moot or the like.
“Yes, I am.”
“Follow me.”
From Noble mtl dot com
He whirled around.
“The commander is looking for you.”
. . .
“Oh, Draken. Come in. Please excuse the mess in the barracks. As you know, we are all a bit busy at the moment, aren’t we?”
“It’s okay.”
Vesmoff Litton.
The leader of the disciplinary unit stared at me.
“It’s an amazing achievement. Not only did you single-handedly destroy five bunkers… but also the number of humans you killed exceeded twenty?”
“…”
“You’re on guard. But don’t worry. The story I’m about to tell you will be helpful to you.”
Vesmoff Litton whispered.
“Do you have any intention of officially joining the resistance? It’s a chance for those who have been forced into mandatory service due to illegal entry. Draken.”
“…”
“Put them in a squad that follows only my direct orders. The intensity of the tasks will increase, but I promise higher pay and rewards based on performance. What do you think?”
It’s an appealing offer. However, increasing the intensity of the tasks means it becomes more dangerous, much like saying it has become more risky.
A little money and pay. Do I really have to risk my life for that?
“I…don’t want to…”
“Take off that necklace too.”
“…….!”
“Ah, of course, the length of service will be extended a bit. Adding another year to the original deadline makes it three years. Of course, if you run away during that time, you’ll be chased as a deserter. It’s better not to entertain bad thoughts.”
“Really…are you really taking it off?”
“Of course. It’s a squad that will be under my command. Do you think I would break your trust over just a necklace? I’m not that foolish.”
Vesmof Ritten chuckled.
“What do you say, Drakan? Isn’t it better to receive different treatment, even if it’s slightly risky, rather than serving with a necklace that might explode at any moment? Become a regular soldier for three years. Of course, you’ll have to follow my orders thoroughly.”
“……”
“Oh, and since you’ll be a regular soldier, you’ll also be provided with a weapon. If you accept my proposal, you won’t be a criminal anymore.”
“Will you erase my illegal immigration record as well?”
“That’s right…good. I’ll erase that too. Well, don’t you think I’ve squeezed enough out of you?”
Vesmof Ritten tapped the table.
“Do you need time to think?”
“……”
I didn’t need time to think.
Because I only had one choice.
If I had to roll in the mud anyway, it was only natural to choose a slightly better place.
And a gun.
Just by having that, the chances of survival increase several times. It bothers me that the length of service is extended by a year, but…
I don’t want to just passively endure when trouble arises, like yesterday.
“Fine.”
Vesmof Ritten smiled.
“An excellent choice.”